Sometimes it rains during Mardi Gras parades

Going thru the 2019 Mardi Gras work, I remembered that it did indeed rain a few nights last year, the parades however carried on..

Tyson winter landscape

R.I. winter costal landscapes

I was lucky enough to have some decent weather during a short trip to R.I. last week.  I love the idea of revisiting the places I go to so often in the summer t this time of year.

Black Point, Narragansett

Black Point, Narragansett

Beavertail Point, Jamestown

Are too productive?

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” – Ansel Adams.

I am been wondering lately if I'm TOO productive, if I'm shooting too much. As previously posted, I shot over 57,000 digital files last year and a load of larger format sheet film. If I do a studio portrait session and don't get 12 images out of that worth printing I consider that a pretty disappointing photo shoot.

I have always worked that was, its part of being just a little too ADD for my own good and I've been like that most of my life and its cut across my life beyond my photographic practice. In the last few years a studio session with a model will usually last 1.5 to 2 hours and I normally will shoot 300-400 images and 6 sheets of 4x5; 4 sheets of 5x7 and if its going well 4 sheets of 8x10 too. Its not like the results are all terrific, again, I'm looking for 15-20 printable digital images and one or two from each of the large format stuff. This may be a sign of the times, that we expect too much success each time we click the shutter or just my own impatience.

I have also been thinking about this in terms of my own archive and legacy. I have 10,000 pages of negatives and contacts in my film archive and it would take 24 TB to copy all of my digital work at this point. What am I leaving to my heirs after my departure from this life, as I age friends who have passed on an left their kids or spouse with a life time of work and are not famous enough for a collection to take it all in are having to decide what to do with it all.

So while in the cold less productive month of January I am thinking about my photography and the process that I employ in making it. I don't see myself not shooting as often but perhaps I'll be a little more considered in the coming year.

So can I change at this point? We'll see what the coming year brings.

Happy New Year!

My first full year of retirement is over! Been a busy year photographically, shot 57,000 digital files, 125 sheets of 4x5, 100 sheets of 5x7 and even 75 sheets of 8x10 (with varying degrees of success), photographed in four countries outside the USA. All part of me figuring out the life of an emeritus professor and now full time artist. Looking forward to 2020, Happy New Year, see you on the road!

Quit bitching About the Cost of Technology Kids..

I read Tom Hogan's blog piece today about the cost of technology:

http://www.sansmirror.com/newsviews/2020-mirrorless-camera/stop-being-a-technophobe.html

and I have to say right on! Really, quit bitching about  the cost of tech i.e XQD and CF express media, as digital photographers its baked into the medium now. I've been working digitally since around 2002 and its never been cheap. I have the Syquest drive carts to prove it along with hundreds of so called "gold archival" DVD's which are all going bad and it seems plenty of Jazz Drive backups that I can't access anymore. It's the game we're in and if your not up for that, perhaps you should be working with analog, perhaps a 5x7, oh I forgot the price of 5x7 film from Ilford just went up........($59.99 for 25 sheets)

Oh yes, and to end this rant I just purchased a 8TB 3.5" spinning drive this weekend for $199.00, that's like $25 a TB which not too long ago was a hopeful fantasy.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Holt Cemetery, New Orleans